Unistrokes are a viable form of text input in pen-based user interfaces. However, they are a very heterogeneous group of gestures the only common feature being that all are drawn with a single stroke. Several unistroke alphabets have been proposed including the original Unistrokes, Graffiti, Allegro, T-Cube and MDITIM. Comparing these methods usually requires a lengthy study with many writers and even then the results are biased by the earlier handwriting experience that the writers have. Therefore, a simple descriptive model can make these comparisons easier. In this paper we propose a model for predicting the writing time for an expert user on any given unistroke alphabet thus enabling sounder argumentation on the properties of different writing methods. Keywords Modeling of motor performance, handwriting, pen input INTRODUCTION Unistrokes were introduced as a text input method for penbased user interfaces by Goldberg and Richardson in their 1993 paper [8]. Unistrokes are an alte...

Text input with eye trackers can be implemented in many ways such as on-screen keyboards or context sensitive menu-selection techniques. We propose the use of off-screen targets and various schemes for decoding target hit sequences into text. Off-screen targets help to avoid the Midas' touch problem and conserve display area. However, the number and location of the off-screen targets is a major usability issue. We discuss the use of Morse code, our Minimal Device Independent Text Input Method (MDITIM), QuikWriting, and Cirrin-like target arrangements. Furthermore, we describe our experience with an experimental system that implements eye tracker controlled MDITIM for the Windows environment. Categories and Subject Descriptors: H.5.5 [Information Interfaces and Presentation]: User Interfaces - Input devices and Strategies, Interaction styles General Terms: Experimentation Additional Keywords: eye tracker, text input, off-screen targets, MDITIM, QuikWriting, Cirrin, Morse code. 1 INT...

Small hand-held touchpads can be used to replace stylusbased digitizing tablets when the use of a stylus is not convenient. In text entry tasks where the writing surface is held in a hand the error rate becomes a problem. The small size of strokes compared to the width of the fingertip and the additional imprecision caused by the interaction of the pad and finger movements make input very imprecise. We describe a new improved clock-face based stroke system for entering numbers with a touchpad. In a 20-session user study with 6 users we found slightly better throughput of successfully entered numbers with the proposed new system. This advantage was mainly due to lower error rate with the new system. User preference similarly slightly favored the new system over an earlier straightforward proposal based on the clock metaphor.

A joystick text entry method for game controllers and mobile phones would be valuable, since these devices often have joysticks but no conventional keyboards. But prevalent joystick text entry methods are slow because they are selection-based. EdgeWrite, a new joystick text entry method, is not based on selection but on gestures from a unistroke alphabet. Our experiment shows that this new method is faster, leaves fewer errors, and is more satisfying than date stamp and selection keyboard (two prevalent selection-based methods) for novices after minimal practice. For more practiced users, our results show that EdgeWrite is at least 1.5 times faster than selection keyboard, and 2.4 times faster than date stamp.

We present a new bimanual text entry technique designed for today’s dual-joystick game controllers. The left and right joysticks are used to independently select characters from the corresponding (left/right) half of an on-screen selection keyboard. Our dual-stick approach is analogous to typing on a standard keyboard, where each hand (left/right) presses keys on the corresponding side of the keyboard. We conducted a user study showing that our technique supports keyboarding skills transfer and is thereby readily learnable. Our technique increases entry speed significantly compared to the status quo single stick selection keyboard technique. Author Keywords Text entry, dual joystick, dual control pad, game controller, game console ACM Classification Keywords H5.2 [Information interfaces and presentation]: User Interfaces.- Input devices and strategies.

While there has been much successful work in developing rules to guide the design and implementation of interfaces for desktop machines and their applications, the design of mobile device interfaces is still relatively unexplored and unproven. This paper discusses the characteristics and limitations of current mobile device interfaces, especially compared to the desktop environment. Using existing interface guidelines as a starting point, a set of practical design guidelines for mobile device interfaces is proposed.

part or all of this work for personal or classroom use is granted without fee provided that copies are not made or distributed for profit or commercial advantage and that copies bear this notice and the full citation on the first page. Copyrights for components of this work owned by others than ACM must be honored. Abstracting with credit is permitted. To copy otherwise, to republish, to post on servers, or to redistribute to lists, requires prior specific permission and/or a fee. Request permissions from Publications Dept, ACM Inc., fax +1 (212) 869-0481, or permissions@acm.org. Quikwriting as a Multi-Device Text Entry Method Quikwriting is a previously published technique for entering text into computers using a stylus. We report results of a longitudinal study on user performance with it. In addition to the original stylus-based usage mode we designed modes for joystick and keyboard thus making Quikwriting compatible with a wide range of computing devices. Twelve participants used the stylus and joystick modes in 20 sessions for a total of ten hours. By the end of the experiment their text entry rate was 16 wpm in the stylus mode and 13 wpm in the joystick mode. At the end we conducted a test to verify that Quikwriting skill transfers to the keyboard mode. Text entry rate for the first five minutes of use in the keyboard mode was 6 wpm. In summary, the stylus mode was not particularly fast, but we found Quikwriting suitable for multi-device use. Author Keywords stylus, keyboard, joystick, gamepad, game controller,

part or all of this work for personal or classroom use is granted without fee provided that copies are not made or distributed for profit or commercial advantage and that copies bear this notice and the full citation on the first page. Copyrights for components of this work owned by others than ACM must be honored. Abstracting with credit is permitted. To copy otherwise, to republish, to post on servers, or to redistribute to lists, requires prior specific permission and/or a fee. Request permissions from Publications

We present a new 4-key text entry method that, unlike most few-key methods, is gestural instead of selection-based. Importantly, its gestures mimic the writing of Roman letters for high learnability. We compare this new 4-key method to predominant 3-key and 5-key methods theoretically using KSPC and empirically using a longitudinal study of 5 subjects over 10 sessions. The study includes an evaluation of the 4-key method without any on-screen visualization— an impossible condition for the selection-based methods. Our results show that the new 4-key method is quickly learned, becoming faster than the 3-key and 5-key methods after just ~10 minutes of writing, although it produces more errors. Interestingly, removing a visualization of the gestures being made causes no detriment to the 4-key method, which is an advantage for eyes-free text entry. ACM Classification Keywords H.5.2. Information interfaces and presentation: User interfaces — Input devices and strategies.

Abstract: Text entry is special kind of human-computer interaction in one respect: it is a highly learned activity, and unlike some others it needs to be so. Writing is not an inborn or trivially acquired skill like pointing and reacting to simple stimuli. Because learning a writing method is expensive, users benefit from using the same method in different situations. We describe an architecture that supports text entry methods that follow the user from device to device. The architecture consists of a server and text entry method implementations that the server downloads from the Internet. Text entry method selection is based on user preference and input device compatibility. We use Java for implementing the text entry methods so that the same code can be run on different platforms. The server is not similarly platform independent. Currently we have implementations for